


It Was The Easy Life

by Pluppelina



Series: I Need Some Fine Wine And You Need To Be Nicer [2]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: M/M, Seb is introspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-07
Updated: 2012-05-13
Packaged: 2017-11-05 00:08:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/399735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pluppelina/pseuds/Pluppelina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Sebastian signs the contracts and manages to impress Jim Moriarty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Just about a week ago, Sebastian met a stranger called Jim in a bar. Since then his life hasn’t been quite the same. It doesn’t matter that Jim said trials were over after number 5. Everything still feels like a test, from Jim inspecting his apartment to the new cell phone he’s gotten. It feels good, though; war is nothing but a series of tests, tests that Sebastian passes and that Sebastian feels comfortable living with. After all that time abroad, it suits his state of mind like nothing else and he’s so glad he took the chance when he was given it. 

  
There’s only one thing that bothers him, really, and that’s that he isn’t bothered. It’s not something he thinks about a whole lot, never has been, but now he finds himself with a little down-time, and for the first time since he went into the military he doesn’t have any other thought process that takes priority. It seems like ages ago that he went to war, and to be fair it is, but it’s not long since he got home.

  
He spent so long killing daily but he never questioned it because that is how wars are won, and if there is one thing he is good at it, it’s fighting wars. And ever since he got home, his life has seemed so... meaningless. He cheats at his card games, earns his living, keeps to himself. He hasn’t connected with anyone since he got home, not in the way he has with Jim - really, killing in front of someone else works miracles on a relationship - but that is just it, isn’t it? Sebastian has been given a choice. He could make an effort to go back to his usual civilian life, maybe try moving to a new town, get out of his bad habits, meet a nice girl - but he just doesn’t want to.

  
Sebastian would much rather stay exactly where he is, being a hired sniper, and possibly more, to a complete madman than go somewhere else and do something besides killing people, rigging explosions, and polishing Jim’s patent leather shoes. He wonders just what that says about him as a person and even though that’s something he’d rather not dwell on for too long, he knows that he has to deal with this now, before he goes and gets himself into something he didn’t really want and can’t get himself out of. If he agrees to stay with Jim Moriarty, it’s more than likely that he’ll never get out alive

  
On the other hand, that’s a big part of what makes this so attractive; not because of death as such, but because it makes everything so simple. Living on the edge of death means that so many things don’t matter anymore. Knowing that it might be his last night on planet earth, Sebastian doesn’t worry about what he’ll do when he comes home, when he has to pay the bills, whether there’ll be enough money for dinner. When Sebastian thinks he’s going to die, he sleeps like a fucking baby. He hasn’t slept a whole night in London since he came back from the certain threat of death that was the war and if Jim Moriarty can give him that peace of mind back, he isn’t about to let some delayed set of morals or misdirected sense of obligation fuck that up.


	2. Chapter 2

“Congratulations,” Jim says as he puts a paper down on the table in front of him. “I would offer you a cigar or something, but you know how I feel about smoking indoors...”

Sebastian takes a look at the paper. It’s a single page, standard contract, two dotted lines along the bottom. There aren’t any dates on it.  


“I’m glad you made it this far,” Jim goes on as he sits down across the table. “It was getting tiresome to interview morons.”  


“I can imagine,” Sebastian says without any real feeling as he starts to read the contract.  


“The employee will be employed until such a time that it no longer fits the employer. The employee shall at all times be at the disposal of the employer, even if otherwise has previously been negotiated. The employee has the right to refuse a given order, but is hereby informed that he risks execution by doing so. The employee is hereby informed that he risks execution at other times as well, especially if he is annoying, boring or lacks character. The employee is expected to be working for as many hours at a time as the employer sees fit, and with whichever task he is assigned. The employee is expected to be able to solve any problem put in front of him in any situation he might find himself in and if he is unable to, he risks execution. The employee is expected to give his life for the employer if asked to....”

Sebastian stops reading; the point has come across clear enough.  


“Do I sign in blood?” he asks and he isn’t even joking. Jim smiles.  


“I do appreciate the effort, but a pen will be fine.”  


Sebastian accepts the one given to him, but Jim’s hand on his pauses him just when he’s about to bring the tip down on the paper.  


“Did you really read the whole thing? You might want to know what you’re signing.” Jim’s eyes are serious, as if this is an actual concern for him, and surprised as Sebastian is, he files it away mentally under “Jim Moriarty’s Quirks”. He thinks it might be best to keep track of them.  


“What do you care?” he asks carefully. He doesn’t mean to offend, but up until now he has gotten the impression that it’s every man for himself.  


“I wouldn’t want some demand of mine to catch you completely off guard, would I? That would be a waste of talent.”  


Sebastian has read enough of the contract to make the educated guess that being caught off guard means execution. Really, it seems amazing that Jim has any employees at all with working conditions like these. On the other hand, the only proof that Jim has got other employees that Sebastian has is the contact list on the phone given him, and he’s understood that most of those contacts are outside contractors rather than actual staff. No matter that, though; he knows his job.  


“I think you summed it up pretty well on our first meeting,” he argues. “Get your dirty work done myself, or if it’s easy enough, delegate it to others. Follow your orders before you’ve even given them. No problems.”  


The way Jim smiles is slightly worrying. “Sometimes I think you’re too good to be true.”  


Sebastian signs the contract without reading the rest of it, because he doesn’t need any particulars, and Jim picks the pen right out of his grasp to do the same thing. The look in Jim’s eye makes Sebastian wonder if he’s going to regret this, but he doesn’t let it bother him, not now. He likes that Jim thinks of him as being too good to be true far too much to ruin it over something as meaningless as a sense of foreboding.


End file.
